1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a robot system, including both of an information network and a control network, and to a robot controller included in the robot system.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a robot system using a plurality of robots, robot controllers for controlling the robots are connected to each other via communication lines. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-306200 discloses a robot control system including one or more robot controllers, an administrative server connected to the robot controller via a robot communication line and an external computer connected to the server via an external communication line.
In a conventional robot system, it is necessary to check the statuses of all the robot controllers connected to a control network, one-by-one, in order to monitor and check the status of the whole network of the system. Accordingly, when a fault occurs in the network, it is necessary to check for a fault in each robot by operating a teaching device so as to find the source of the fault. However, such an operation takes a long time and imposes a burden on an operator.